![]() Other contracts used shell companies in Ukraine, the UK and the Czech Republic in an apparent effort to avoid scrutiny of multimillion-dollar payments connected to deals, the auditors found.ĭiallo said the deals “not only exposed a hidden financial cost to Niger – the poorest country in the world – but also show how Niger’s sovereignty was captured and exploited”. More than half of the payment was questionable, the auditors found. In 2017 a Nigerien company won a $6.5m contract to supply 30 buses to the ministry of defence. They believed the price had been inflated by $8.2m. Investigators also examined a $40m agreement to purchase Chinese armoured personnel carriers. The government said the country’s armed forces had never been so well equipped.Īccording to the audit, as well as a previous investigation conducted by the ministry of finance in 2017, contracts to supply military equipment to the armed forces, including weapons and ammunition, night-vision goggles and a trailer for transporting tanks, may have cost the defence ministry $24.7m more than they should have done. They come from the same region as the president,” said Hassane Diallo, the head of Centre d’Assistance Juridique et d’Action Citoyenne, a Niger-based anti-corruption group. “All the economic actors mentioned in the audit belong to the ruling party. ![]() Many of the suspect deals revealed by the report involve a small number of well-connected businessmen with close ties to Niger’s government. There have been repeated complaints that troops lack correct equipment and training, and receive poor rations and pay.įrance sees Niger as a priority country for humanitarian and development assistance, while the UK has given some minor aid too. In 2017, five died alongside four US special forces soldiers in an ambush by militants linked to Islamic State. Hundreds of Nigerien troops have been killed in a series of massacres in the conflict. The country’s new military capabilities and its strategically significant location in the Sahel region have made it an important ally for local and western powers fighting a tenacious Islamic extremist insurgency. In another deal mentioned in the audit, $4.9m was paid to outfit the presidential plane with an anti-missile system that was described by auditors as “ineffective”.ĭespite its deep poverty, Niger has spent heavily over the last decade on arms ranging from attack helicopters and fighter jets to armoured vehicles and automatic rifles. A Rosoboronexport spokesperson declined to answer OCCRP’s emailed requests for comment. This was the equivalent of acquiring an additional helicopter, they noted. They were also concerned that around €17.6m had been added to the overall package to cover optional extras. ![]() ![]() The auditors noted that the contract was negotiated by direct agreement without competition in 2016 and questioned the decision to conclude a deal with a company that is under US sanctions. The auditors questioned the price of €55m ($62m), which also included maintenance and ammunition, saying they had been unable to explain why the sum appeared to them to be inflated by $19.7m. In one deal in 2016, Niger’s ministry of defence bought two Mi-171Sh military helicopters from Rosoboronexport, Russia’s state-owned defence company. The audit gives figures in euros and West African CFA francs, which were converted to dollars by the OCCRP. The audit was handed to Niger’s most senior prosecutor in April, who said at the time that those involved would be held accountable. The scandal has prompted a series of public protests and strikes in Niger despite government promises to recover the lost funds, punish any “public agents” responsible and introduce wide-ranging reforms. Opposition politicians hope the scandal will weaken the ruling party and its candidate, Mohamed Bazoum. Public prosecutors in Niger are investigating the findings, which have become part of a bitter political battle before presidential and legislative elections scheduled for later this year. Nigerien service members during a Flintlock exercise with US troops in Diffa in 2017.
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